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The Case of Lerico Kearney
📻 Episode #523
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 May 01, 2025
About This Episode
On November 21, 1997, Gene Artis and his sister Yvonne Giles were shot and killed at their apartment in Suffolk, VA. Six-year-old Travone Artis was the only witness who saw his mother and uncle get murdered, and he unequivocally told authorities that a relative of his was the shooter. Despite this, 18 year old Lerico…
Case status as carried in this site's original 2026 profiles. Independent record verification is rolling out episode by episode — statuses are being re-checked against court and registry sources and date-stamped as verified.
The Case
On November 21, 1997, Gene Artis and his sister Yvonne Giles were shot and killed at their apartment in Suffolk, VA. Six-year-old Travone Artis was the only witness who saw his mother and uncle get murdered, and he unequivocally told authorities that a relative of his was the shooter. Despite this, 18 year old Lerico Kearney became a suspect when police found out he and Gene gambled together.There was no physical evidence linking Lerico to this crime, but with the help of multiple jailhouse snitches, he was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
https://www.change.org/p/governor-glen-youngkin-governor-youngkin-lerico-kearney-does-not-deserve-to-die-in-prison
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In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts
Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.
00:05:48“Speaker 1: And the only ones with any real economic power, until, Speaker 1: of course they got caught and sent away from some Speaker 1: ungodly sentence, like la Rico's father. Speaker 3: But my father went to prison in nineteen ninety five. Speaker 3: He had fifty four years under the old with parole.”
00:22:25“Speaker 1: now he's in a different car with another guy following Jean. Speaker 1: Which way is it? Guys? I mean, you can't have Speaker 2: Travis Chalk several years later, gave an affidavit that all Speaker 2: of it was alive. In fact, I do have that Speaker 2: Affidavid Travis Chalk said, I never saw l Rico Kearney”
00:38:26“Speaker 3: And I refused it. And here I am sinning again. Speaker 3: You know, I get convicted again and ended up with life. Speaker 1: I mean, it must have felt like deja vu all Speaker 3: It definitely did. I'm like, this can't be happening like Speaker 3: a second time. It's like I just felt like defeated,”
Listen to the Episode
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← #522 SPECIAL EMERGENCY EPISODE: Jason Flom and Maggie Freleng with Andre Brown live from the UJC Summit #524 Clemente Aguirre →
Also on the podcast: #336 Lerico Kearney